Unexpected Alliances
by Himura Kawaii
Summary: A/U Kenshin and Kaori aren't friends in real life but form an oddly good relationship online. Will it work out when both belong to different relationships in intertwined worlds?


::Unexpected Alliances::  
  
Himura Kawaii  
  
Chapter One  
  
*** Disclaimers apply... Blah blah.. RK's not mine.. Hail the Great Watsuki- sama... I'm now a college stude, but still poor!!..... Don't sue me! ^_^  
  
[Kenji]  
  
Kenji grinned as he stepped inside the classroom. Almost all the guys grinned at him and clapped on his back, they all knew that today was the start of Kendo season and Kenji, their team captain, was going to have a match with the rival school's kendo captain, Shinomori Aoshi. Kenji felt good today and he knew he had a good chance of winning even if he hasn't met Aoshi before. Kenji felt his insides churn with excitement. He couldn't wait for classes to end for the competition to begin.  
  
[Tomoe]  
  
Tomoe flipped her long black hair over her shoulder and adjusted her bag strap as she stood waiting for her boyfriend Kenji at their school's parking lot. Her tall, slender figure remained visible beneath the drab navy school uniform she was wearing. How Tomoe manages to still look elegant in normal private-school clothing is beyond anyone else's comprehension. She glanced wearily at the watch on her wrist and sighed. She glanced around and saw the figure of another raven-haired girl walking towards the school entrance just behind Tomoe. Tomoe knew the girl was Kamiya Kaori, a pretty sophomore who also belonged to their school's kendo club. Tomoe was secretly fascinated with Kaori, not knowing how the girl managed to win cold, mysterious and unattainable Shinomori Aoshi's heart. Maybe that's why she liked the young girl a lot and also felt at ease working with her on the school paper. She waited patiently as Kaori took notice of her and waved enthusiastically.  
  
[Kaori]  
  
Kaori smiled as she recognized Tomoe's figure in front of the school entrance. She knew Tomoe must have been waiting for her boyfriend to arrive. Kaori hadn't seen Himura Kenji yet, and today would be a good day to see him and evaluate his skills. Aoshi had told her he was looking forward to this fight, and Kaori immediately knew that this Kenji guy must be good. Aoshi rarely gets excited over his matches, mainly because he always wins. Kaori looked forward to this fight and she wanted Aoshi to win. As she neared Tomoe, she grinned even more. Kaori liked Tomoe's cool and calm stance. She was a lot like Aoshi, always composed and never losing poise. Kaori thought this must be the reason why she felt comfortable around the older woman, even though her presence is sort of intimidating to other people.  
  
"Oi, Tomoe-san, what are you doing outside?" Kaori inquired as soon as she was face-to-face with the beautiful woman.  
  
Tomoe sighed and frowned slightly. Kaori noticed that Tomoe never really shows much expression, and she was impressed with how well this woman carries herself. Tomoe spoke slowly even if Kaori noticed she was really annoyed. "Kenji and his team were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago. He told me to please wait for him since he didn't know his way around here, and I've been standing here for ages." She rolled her eyes and stared at her black mary janes. "How about you? What brings you outside?"  
  
Kaori jingled Aoshi's car keys that were still on the palm of her hand. "I thought I left something in Aoshi's car. It turns out I left it at home!" She grimaced at the thought of having to walk over and back again still empty-handed. "I'm so forgetful sometimes. I feel like whacking my head on the wall or something like that."  
  
Tomoe laughed quietly at Kaori's irritation. She liked how much the girl seemed so carefree and uncaring about certain things, and she admired the way Kaori could laugh at her own self. "Oh, hey, please tell Aoshi good luck from me."  
  
Kaori smiled sweetly, "Sure, even if I haven't met Kenji before, wish him luck from me too. I bet this is going to be one great fight!" Kaori's eyes brightened. "Well, I have to go. Aoshi wanted to talk to me before the match and it seemed important. I hope Kenji and his team arrives soon! See you later!"  
  
Tomoe waved as Kaori turned to go. "Bye!"  
  
She glanced at her watch again. Kenji will have a lot to explain as soon as he gets here, Tomoe thought, frowning.  
[Aoshi]  
Aoshi felt his heart skip a beat as soon as he saw Kaori's figure run towards him. Her hair was tied back in a high ponytail and she had taken off her navy blazer and left on her tucked white blouse and loosely-tied small tie. Her long legs were visible under the short skirt that was swaying with her swift movements. Her face was a bit flushed from running and her eyes seemed big and innocent.  
  
She's alarmingly beautiful, Aoshi thought to himself. I still marvel at how much I feel for her even if everything about us is opposite.  
  
"Why did you suddenly stop doing katas?" Kaori panted as she stopped in front of him. "And you're staring at me as if you've never seen me before! Mou, Aoshi, is something wrong?"  
  
Aoshi had to laugh at Kaori's puzzled expression. "You don't know how beautiful you are, don't you?" He wiped her forehead of sweat and pinched her upturned nose.  
  
Kaori blushed, but pouted even more. "A cold man like you should never say sweet statements like that. It's so not like you. " She stuck her tongue out at Aoshi and put her hands on her hips. "Now what did you want to talk about that seemed so serious?"  
  
"Nothing, really. I just wanted you to get back here as fast as you can. Did you find what you were looking for?" Aoshi returned to practicing katas, but his attention remained on Kaori.  
  
"Baka yarou!" Kaori thwacked Aoshi with her bokken. "Did you know how fast I ran just to get here because I thought what you were about to say was important?! And no, I didn't find it. I guess I left it someplace else."  
  
Aoshi rubbed his forehead and grinned. "Maybe you left it in someone else's car-Ow ow ow!!! Okay, okay, I'll stop teasing, just don't whack me anymore!" Aoshi pleaded and laughed at Kaori's impertinent nature.  
  
"You wish!" Kaori laughed and pulled at Aoshi's hair as she pinned him on his back. "You made me run from here to the parking lot and back for nothing?! Argh!!!"  
  
"Um, excuse me.. who will I be fighting?" A voice rose from behind them. "Because if it's the girl, then I think I better forfeit right now if I don't want to die early."  
  
***  
  
[Kaori]  
  
Kaori immediately rolled off Aoshi and looked up to see the pair of the brightest violet eyes she had ever seen.  
  
"Himura Kenji, I take it?" Aoshi stood up and shook hands with the small, almost lady-like redhead. "I'm Shinomori Aoshi, and I'm pleased to inform you that I'm the one you'll be fighting with, so I think we shouldn't worry about anyone dying today." Aoshi gave Kenji a polite smile.  
  
Kaori blinked a few times before finally realizing that she was still sitting on the mat and staring at Kenji's eyes. The guy looked striking with his flame-red hair and his violet eyes, but other than that, he seemed no match for Aoshi's extremely handsome looks. Kaori also noticed that Tomoe was as tall as Kenji and they looked a bit.. Well, a bit mismatched, with Tomoe's cool aura and this guy's open warmth.  
  
Just like Aoshi and me, Kaori thought.  
  
"Err, Jo-chan, do you plan on sitting there all day? Because if you do, then these two can't fight."  
  
Kaori looked up to see Sagara Sanosuke, one of her friends and teammates, was looking at her in a slightly perplexed and teasing manner. She hadn't noticed the others had arrived too. And there were people from Kenji's team she didn't recognize.  
  
She immediately stood up and whacked Sano's head. "Of course I plan to stand up, rooster-head! I was just taking my time!"  
  
Aoshi turned to her and smiled. "You're my lucky charm, so work your powers, okay?" He helped her to her feet and Kaori kissed her lightly on the cheek.  
  
Kaori and the rest of the people went to the bleachers as the officiating person and the two fighters stepped onto the center of the mat.  
  
Suddenly, Kaori felt her cellphone vibrate.  
  
"Who the heck could be calling me now?"  
  
She fished for her phone in her skirt's pocket and grimaced. It was her younger brother Yoshi, probably wanting to know what's going on at the match.  
  
"Now what?" She answered the phone with her trademark-annoyed voice.  
  
"Kaori, I hate to bother you, but I think I ran into a little trouble going to school." Yoshi's worried voice quivered on the phone.  
  
Kaori frowned, the fight was starting and Kaori couldn't help but get distracted with Aoshi and Kenji's awesome techniques and quick, agile movements. "What's going on, Yosh?"  
  
"I. I.. Uh... remember that I borrowed your car...?"  
  
"Yes...?"  
  
"And, well... remember how I said I'd take good care of it...?"  
  
Kaori's brow furrowed. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"  
  
"I.. Uh, I think you better come see for yourself. I'm at the bridg-"  
  
Kaori didn't let Yoshi finish, she was already on her way out of the gymnasium. She passed by Sano and yanked his elbow. "I need to borrow your car. The brat did something to mine. Tell Aoshi to call me when he gets home, okay?" with that she grabbed Sano's car keys from his shirt pocket.  
  
Before Sano could get a chance to reply, Kaori was off.  
  
"Nani?"  
  
***  
  
"Damn." Kaori muttered under her breath as soon as she stepped out of Sano's car. "The only chance I get to see a good match and now Yoshi has to ruin it. I wonder what he did to my car?"  
  
She immediately saw that Yoshi had somehow managed to do a 90-degree turn and had slammed into the bridge railings. Her bumper was on the verge of falling off and obviously, Yoshi's idiocy had caused a major effect on the flow of traffic.  
  
"Argh!!!!"  
  
*** [Yoshi]  
  
"I swear I wouldn't do it ever again!" Yoshi promised Kaori right after she had just bailed Yoshi out of the sticky situation. "Kaori talk to me, say something! You haven't said a word since you got here!"  
  
Kaori glared at Yoshi. "I don't think you want to hear me talk right now." Kaori watched as the men towed her car. "And you bet you'd never do it again because I'm sure dad won't let you near any of our cars for a long time!"  
  
Yoshi gulped. He didn't think that Kaori would be letting their parents know about this little.. Uh... accident. He looked at Kaori with those pleading puppy dog eyes that used to be so effective on her when they were small.  
  
"Don't go looking at me like that Yosh because it won't work. Who do you expect to pay for the repairs on my car?! Plus even if I used my credit card to pay that, mom and dad would still find out through my bills. So you have a lot of explaining to do later."  
  
"Darn." Yoshi wondered how more unlucky he could get. He brought Kaori's car to his school because he wanted so much to impress Tsubame. Everything went well until he spun out of control at the bridge. Yoshi was an amateur driver and he still doesn't have his license, that's why he knew he'll be in big trouble the moment his parents find out. "Thanks for bailing me out, Kaori."  
  
Kaori's anger melted and she smiled at Yoshi. "Anytime brat. Thank your lucky stars it's my car you wrecked, not otou-san's!"  
  
***  
  
[Kaori]  
  
Kaori noticed that her machine contained messages while she was out. "It must be Aoshi." Kaori muttered as she pressed the rewind button.  
  
As expected, Aoshi's deep voice wafted through the machine.  
  
"Hey Kaori, I won. Go online so we can talk. I missed you. I hope Yoshi didn't totally wreck your car."  
  
Kaori clapped with glee. She knew Aoshi would do really well and she was glad he won. She went to her waiting laptop and immediately connected to the net. She smiled even more when she saw that Aoshi was already online, waiting for her.  
  
[Aoshi]  
  
His PC's speaker made a doorbell sound announcing, "Kawaii_kendo_freak is now online". Aoshi smiled. Ever since he got home from his match with the famous Himura Kenji from the all-boys private school beside theirs, he had been feeling uneasy. He felt that somehow, his opponent didn't give his best shot, and that he was a bit distracted. He wasn't sure whether he really won that match or if he won only because his opponent wasn't giving his best shot.  
  
Kawaii_kendo_freak: Oi!! I'm so happy for you!!  
  
IceBlueEyes: Thanks, it was a toughie.  
  
IceBlueEyes: he was really good, and I thought I might lose if he didn't get distracted.  
  
Kawaii_kendo_freak: distracted? Why?  
  
IceBlueEyes: I dunno. For some reason, he seemed out of it in the middle of the game. But never mind, I guess it was just me.  
  
Aoshi didn't want to burden Kaori with any more analyzing of the match. He was really happy that she was happy for him.  
  
Kawaii_kendo_freak: oh. Well, good for you, though.  
  
IceBlueEyes: yeah. So what happened with Yoshi and your car? Everything okay?  
  
Kawaii_kendo_freak: Don't remind me. I won't be able to use my car for a week or so.  
  
Kawaii_kendo_freak: if that kid weren't my brother, I'd really kick his ass! LOL.  
  
IceBlueEyes: LOL!! At least no one was hurt, ne?  
  
Kawaii_kendo_freak: Uh-huh. You seem a bit distracted yourself. Is anything on you mind?  
  
Uh-oh, Aoshi thought to himself. Kaori has enough to worry about with her car and her bratty brother. Plus it seemed so trivial to worry about his opponent's state of mind.  
  
IceBlueEyes: not really. Just tired, I guess.  
  
It was true.  
  
IceBlueEyes: Is it okay if I get a quick shut-eye?  
  
Kawaii_kendo_freak: yeah, you should rest. I'm sorry I missed you game, though. :)  
  
IceBlueEyes: it's okay. Your luck still worked. Haha. Talk to you later.  
  
Kawaii_kendo_freak: That's good. Later.  
  
[Kenji]  
  
As soon as he got home, Kenji turned on his PC to connect to the internet. He was feeling crappy because of the game he just lost. Somehow, he felt distracted and out of focus during the game and he honestly didn't know what went wrong. Adding to the injury was the fact that Tomoe kept on asking him what was wrong even if he made it pretty obvious that he didn't want to talk about it.  
  
"Kuso." Kenji felt weird having lost without even trying. He checked his mail without reading anything. Right now, he felt like talking to someone he didn't know. Someone who won't judge him for circumstances he didn't want to share. He just wanted someone unknown to talk to. He started searching for people online, using the keyword "kendo".  
  
"Hmmm, 'Kawaii_kendo_freak' eh? Maybe this person would be nice to talk to." He double-clicked the username and started typing.  
  
[Kaori]  
  
Kaori was about to log-out when a screen popped up on her monitor, indicating that someone had sent her an instant message.  
  
Baka_oro28: Hi! Busy?  
  
Kaori raised an eyebrow. She didn't normally talk to strangers, not even in chat. But somehow, this person's username seemed to have caught her eye.  
  
Kawaii_kendo_freak: Do I know you? Funny username, btw.  
  
Baka_oro28: No, I don't think so. Thanks. :)  
  
Baka_oro28: I just felt like talking to someone and I noticed we have kendo in common.  
  
Baka_oro28: Do you like kendo?  
  
O-kay. Kaori thought to herself. He sounds harmless. Plus I've got nothing else to do. I guess it wouldn't hurt to chat with him.  
  
***  
  
Geez, I'm back. And you guys probably want to kill me for starting another fic without ending the others! I swear I'll work on it! It's just that I've been really happy lately. Pray that I'll get depressed or something! LOL!! ^__^  
  
I hope this is a good beginning. I mean, it's not too intriguing like the other fics, but if you guys are familiar with the movie "You've Got Mail", then I think you know where this fic is going. :) Tell me if you want me to continue. Tell me if you want me to stop. As you all know well, I write for you people. :D  
  
Yes, it's obvious I am obsessed with the Aoshi-Kaoru pairing. Teehee.. don't worry, in Mirai, they won't end up together... at least, that's what I planned to do. :p  
  
I want to thank you guys for keeping on reading and urging me to continue writing stuff for you people. You guys rock! ^____^ I also want to thank batchtwooth guys for liking my cheesy stuff. And lastly, JP, for being himself. :p 


End file.
